


Love, Kyung-hoon

by icanwriteanything



Category: Buzz (Korea Band), Super Junior, 아는 형님 | Knowing Bros | Ask Us Anything
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:08:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25070644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icanwriteanything/pseuds/icanwriteanything
Summary: Kyung-hoon is talking to an online persona named Cinderella (who is from his school.) He's developing feelings for Cinderella and this so called Cinderella reciprocates his feelings. But, what happens when he gets threatened by his classmate and he has to enlist the help of a boy named Kim Hee-chul.AKA what happens when Love Simon and To All The Boys I've Loved Before have a baby
Relationships: Kim Heechul/Min Kyunghoon
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. Prologue

_Dear Cinderella,_

_My brother is going away to university so all of my family members are shedding tears and taking out our baby pictures. I'm pretty sure that after he's gone, they're gonna make sure that I don't go. I want to go though because in university, I'll be who I want to be and not someone who I have to be._

_Love,_ _Kyunghoon._

_ Dear Kyunghoon,  _

_ I feel you. That's what happened when my sister went to university. They are still preventing me from going to university but I'm going because I need to escape too. Maybe we can meet then. Talk about what we were escaping from. Help each other live out of the best versions of ourselves. _

_ Love,  _ _ Cinderella. _

_ Dear Cinderella,  _

_ I'd like to meet you now. _

_ Love,  _ _ Kyunghoon. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on twitter: @aftereffectsx


	2. I

Kyung-hoon knew that Cinderella was from his school because his school has a website that acts like a social media platform. The website's great because you don't have to add your teachers and your classmates on Facebook and it's also great because that's where he found out about Cinderella. 

Cinderella had posted on the school website about how his friends should stop tagging him in the Year 7 prom photos because, "I don't regret not going so I don't feel jealous of you and your hot dates snogging in the back of your shitty cars."

Cinderella is known as _space boy_ on the school website and when you click on his profile, there's no photo. There's just statuses about how his friends are dicks and links to songs from Spotify. In fact, those statuses were from Year 7 and it’s been three years since he posted anything beside Spotify links.

Kyung-hoon was also at home that day because he didn't go to prom too so he mustered up some courage and sent _space boy_ a message. To this day, he still doesn't know how he managed to do that without his hands shaking. He thought his hands would shake because Year 7 was his first year in the UK and the only friend he had was Noah.

Yes, Cinderella is from his school and he just sent Kyung-hoon a message about how they could meet when they're uni students.

And since Kyung-hoon wants to meet Cinderella now, he just sent that message.

And now he's in his room pacing back and forth because Cinderella hasn't replied back. 

Fuck, did he scare Cinderella away? Maybe there is a valid reason he doesn't want to meet now. Kyung-hoon shouldn't have been selfish. Of course, meeting a stranger from the internet is suspicious. How can he be so stupid?

"Kyung-hoon, why are you still not asleep?" His mother says, bursting through his bedroom floor. 

He sits on his office chair. "Sorry, mum." 

"Your brother has to drive really early in the morning to go to London for the uni visits so please keep it down. It's also a school night for you." 

Kyung-hoon turns to his computer to shut it off. "I'll sleep, I promise." 

"I better see your lamp turned off; your phone also better not be glowing from under your covers." 

Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes. "I'll sleep." 

"That's what you said in your first mock exam and look what happened." 

Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes again. "Again, it was just a mock and I was in Year 7 so it wasn't that important. I did great on my Year 7 exams anyway and my sleeping schedule got better." 

"Now, stop bringing up the past and let your beautiful son sleep, for goodness sake." 

"I'm your mother, I'll always bring up the times I've been disappointed to discipline you." 

"Goodnight mum," Kyung-hoon drawls and waves to his mum by the door. 

His phone buzzes beside him and his mum glares at it. He rolls his eyes and turns the phone off in front of her. She finally leaves him alone after that. 

He turns the phone back on because he can't go to sleep with unanswered messages; he's too curious and impatient for that. The notification of a new email from Cinderella is there, waiting for him.

_Dear Kyung-hoon,_

_I don't think I can meet you because I would want to kiss you if we met. It's too risky to kiss now._

_Love,_ _Cinderella._

"Fuck," Kyung-hoon whispers in the dark. He definitely can't sleep now.

Kyung-hoon wakes up feeling groggy because he didn't sleep that well last night. He kept locking and unlocking his phone last night to check if he was dreaming or not about the email; this morning, he checked again.

It wasn't a dream.

It wasn't a dream that Kyung-hoon got confessed to last night. It wasn't a dream that Kyung-hoon found out that Cinderella likes boys. Cinderella, a boy, likes boys. Cinderella likes him.

Here's the thing, Kyung-hoon likes him too. In fact, Kyung-hoon is in love with him. 

It's been 3 years since Prom night and three years since they talked. And during those three years, Kyung-hoon got to know all about Cinderella. 

For instance: 

  * Cinderella has a sister but he's more closer to the pets in the family which is one dog and one cat. He will not reveal what their names are because it's embarrassing even though Kyung-hoon has asked many times for it.




  * Cinderella is called Cinderella because when he was young, he went to a playdate and the first thing he picked up was a Cinderella Barbie doll. Also the first time he's ever rebelled is going to see an R rated movie with his friends and coming home at midnight. Hence the nickname, Cinderella. 



  * Cinderella is called space boy because when he was young, he dreamed about going to space and becoming a prince there because princes here are stupid-especially Prince Charming who couldn't figure out Cinderella was the one who owned the shoe even though it was so obvious.



  * Cinderella prefers the Hilary Duff version over Selena Gomez and the other ones.



_Dear Kyung-hoon,_

_Lucy Hale as Cinderella. Haven't we suffered enough with the uncomfortable minor x adult relationship in the Selena Gomez one, Kyung-hoon??????_

_Love, Cinderella._

Yeah, there's a lot to go over when it comes to Cinderella. Kyung-hoon is in love with everything that's to do with him. And now Cinderella reciprocates his feelings. 

Kyung-hoon can't freak out forever. He has to act upon it. He has to find Cinderella. He has to tell Cinderellathat he would like to kiss him too. He has to tell Cinderella that he's in love. He's been in love ever since he got comforted by Cinderella after his dog  Boksil died. He'd never thought he would meet someone that can take his sorrows away-even if it's something small like an animal passing away. 

He has to tell him in person because saying it in a stupid email isn't enough. It's better to express it in person. He has to see Cinderella's happy expression in person. He has to say it right before the kiss. It's the perfect scenario for a first kiss.

He hears a beep coming from outside and it jolts him awake from his thoughts. He looks outside and Noah waves at him from the car. A blonde in the next seat beckons him towards the car. "Hurry up, we'll be late!"

Noah Clark. His best friend since he moved here from Korea. They met because Noah accidentally spilled water on his perfectly ironed shirt on his first ever day at school and made fun of the way he dressed.

"Dude, you kinda deserve it for looking so formal for your first day, don't you think?"

Yeah, Kyung-hoon's mum made him tuck his shirt into his trousers. He also buttoned his collars and wore his tie too tight so it wasn't just the shirt that made him look formal. You can never doubt Asian mums and their love of looking professional. 

"I'm sorry about the water but you look too serious, dude." 

That was the start of their friendship because after taking his shirt out of his trousers, Kyung-hoon got shown around by Noah and the rest is history. 

The blonde girl is Hayley Kassman, another best friend. They met last year when Kyung-hoon and Hayley got paired up in drama for improv. All three of them are theatre geeks so she got to know Noah too. 

Kyung-hoon and Hayley are the only ones who act and Noah is the stage manager. Instead of Noah being jealous of them both, Kyung-hoon and Hayley are jealous of Noah since he is so good at technology. 

Noah comes from a musical family so he's learnt the skills from his mum and dad. Kyung-hoon always meets them when they do school productions because they help around. They're the first parents to be allowed to help and it's understandable since their help doesn't go unnoticed. 

Noah is originally from Florida so he's also a foreigner like Kyung-hoon and according to his fellow theatre geeks, Noah's mum used to be one of the princesses in the float at Disneyland. His dad was a prince. 

Unfortunately, his dad was Prince Philip and his mum was Snow White; Prince Philip and Snow White kissing was too factually inaccurate so they had to quit. They moved here, had Noah, and started using their musical theatre talent for the school.

"It's not even 8:30 yet, why are we rushing?" Kyung-hoon asks as he gets into the car.

"Noah has to drop off a CD for Mrs Wailer. The Year 7 are doing their assignments soon and he did the music for them." 

Mrs Wailer is their drama teacher and Kyung-hoon's favourite teacher in the world.

"Ooh, what are the little ones doing?" 

"Devising," Noah answers from the driver seat. 

Devising is when the class makes up their own script and decides how to produce and direct their creations. Kyung-hoon has a love-hate relationship on Devising; he hates it because it requires a lot of time and energy for his introverted self and he loves it because he gets to be creative and create something of his own.

Hayley turns to Kyung-hoon with a pout. "He won't tell me what they've come up with. He just tells me to wait and see." 

"What's the fun of knowing the script early when you go see the show, Hales?" Kyung-hoon asks. 

(They go see every show because that's their idea of fun.)

Kyung-hoon snickers. "Sorry for liking my shows with no spoilers, Hales. What can I say, I like mysteries." 

"He does, our play was about this girl that goes missing and leaves little hints around the town for her friends."

Hayley snorts. "Isn't that the plot of Paper Towns by John Green?" 

"We thought of it first," Kyung-hoon answers and Noah nods in agreement.

"Dorks," Hayley mutters under her breath.

"It would have been fun to do devising with you Hayley but for some reason, Year 9 drama classes are a lot more complicated," Kyung-hoon says. 

He’s talking about last year when Hayley joined the school. Kyung-hoon is currently in Year 10 and doing his GCSEs. 

GCSEs are the big important exams that employers and universities in the future care about.

"I did it in my old school but yeah it would have been fun with you nerds," Hayley replies and the two boys nod in agreement.

"I think Year 13 is the year we do variety shows so I can't wait to come up with fun stuff to do with you guys," Noah says and Kyung-hoon snorts.

Variety shows are when drama students perform different types of things in one show. Not to be confused with variety shows his mum watches where Baek Jong-won tells her to buy food that are dying out. 

"You don't get to do anything cause you're the stage manager." 

"I can still act; I'll just get my parents to manage the stage and I'll do one of the best monologues for the audience." 

Kyung-hoon taps his chin with this finger. "A monologue about how to fart in the assembly and blame it on your seatmate?"

"You do realise variety shows doesn't mean those Korean shows you make me watch, Kyung-hoon. We're not gonna meet Shin Se-Kyung or whatever names you moan when you cum." 

"You fucker." 

"How many times have you watched that episode of Running Man she was in?" 

Hayley turns to Kyung-hoon. "What the fuck is this idiot on about now?" 

If Noah wasn't driving, Kyung-hoon would have strangled him and Hayley would have tried to stop it. If he strangled him in the car right now, it would crash; he wants to go to school without injuries. 

"Nerds," Hayley says after Noah starts to rattle an explanation of what Running Man and who this Se-Kyung is. 

Here's the thing. 

Kyung-hoon likes boys. He knows that. 

He's had that sexual awakening every LGBTQ member has. (Young Leo DiCaprio in Romeo and Juliet.)

But he also finds girls pretty. He gets that same feeling he does when he sees girls as when a male classmate asks for a pen and their hands touch when Kyung-hoon lends him one. 

Bisexuality would be the closest thing to what Kyung-hoon would label it but he doesn't like labels. Labels scare him. He doesn't want to accept that he's this label or that label. Accepting it would be coming to terms with it and he's not ready for that. Plus, nothing stays the same. He could start liking just boys or he could start liking no one at all. Anything can happen. He just wants to do what he wants to do and not define it. 

So yeah, he fancies an actress called Se-Kyung but he's also in love with a boy named Cinderella. Who cares?

At lunchtime, Kyung-hoon and his friends usually dash towards the chippy that's near the school because Noah loves fish and chips.

Actually, love is an understatement because Noah would eat it everyday if he had to eat one meal for the rest of his life.

As an American, he found it interesting that British fries are fatter and you don't eat fries with a burger.

However, today, they eat their lunch quickly from the dinner hall and head to the library.

Hayley wants to start on her Maths homework because she's one of those people that moderately do their homework. Kyung-hoon decided to follow her because he can handle not eating chips for one day. He's excited to sit in the bean bags anyway.

There's nothing better than sitting on the bean bags the library has and listening to your music through your headphones. It's so relaxing that Kyung-hoon has fallen asleep there quite a few times. 

Noah runs to the nearest computer to play games and Kyung-hoon makes a beeline for the bean bags.

He's about to sit in his favourite bean bag when he notices that the bean bag is occupied. 

He recognises the boy as Kim Hee-chul, the other Korean-British in this school. No one in this class wears bucket hats to school.

There are only two Korean-British people in this school and it's him and Hee-chul. Everyone thinks that they're either related or friends because most people in high school are closeted racists. They're not friends. In fact, he's only seen Hee-chul once or twice.

He's seen Hee-chul around with his friends that are mostly girls and also, he's only said two words to him because they have History together and Hee-chul was blocking his seat. 

"Excuse me." 

Yup, that was it. 

  


He feels like he's gonna have to say the words to Hee-chul again because he's in Kyung-hoon's desired spot so he opens his mouth to speak. 

"This is your spot, isn't it?" 

Kyung-hoon lets out a tiny gasp. "Huh?" 

"You're waiting for me to get up, right?" 

"Umm….." 

"I was just leaving anyway so you can have it; there's no need to glare at me." 

"I-I wasn't glaring," Kyung-hoon stammers. 

“Yeah, you were.” 

“I wasn’t,” Kyung-hoon says defensively which causes Hee-chul to smirk. 

Hee-chul leaves and Kyung-hoon watches him wave goodbye with a finger salute. He can’t wrap his head around what the fuck just happened so he just plops down in his seat and takes out his AirPods.

He’s halfway through the second track on The 1975’s new album when Hayley taps him on his leg.

“Hey, anti-social,” Hayley greets with a wide grin.

Kyung-hoon rolls his eyes. “Hey blondie.”

“I need help with this Maths problem; you know how weak I am with Algebra.”

Yes, Kyung-hoon lives the Asian stereotype of being a smartass. He’s really good at Maths because he had to practice lots with his dad when he failed his Maths mock exam. He may be a slacker and a tardy piece of crap but he does good in his studies especially in Maths.

His mum and dad want him to be ready for when he goes to university because they think the UK does things like college entrance exams like how the Koreans do back home. Kyung-hoon can’t argue because the GCSE and the A-levels exams are the entrance exam so all he can do is listen to his parents. 

(A-Levels are exams after GCSE’s. Some people do them. Some people don’t. Most universities look for A levels but if you want to say a big fuck you to education and go to work, people will usually ask for GCSEs.)

(Kyung-hoon is still not sure if he wants to go to a school or if he wants to take a college course.)

He helps Hayley with Algebra and then lets Hayley ramble on about how Algebra sucks and how it shouldn’t be taught since no one uses it in real life. When Hayley is shoving her Algebra homework in her bag, the bell rings.

“You have a free period,” Hayley reminds him when he stands up.

“Fuck, why don’t I know that? Thanks Hales!” 

Hayley rolls her eyes. “You can go back to your beanbag now since I’m out of your hair.”

“Yeah I will!”

“Or, actually, you can do the English assignment since you’re sitting near a computer anyway,” Hayley says and shoves him back to his seat.

Kyung-hoon pouts. “It’s not due till next week.”

“Doesn’t mean that you can’t start on it.”

“You’re boring, get out of my face.”

“Fine, I’m late for Textiles anyway.” 

In Year 10, you can choose your subjects and get your timetable around it. That is why Kyung-hoon has a free period because none of his subjects are on right now. He still has to do the mandatory science, english, maths but those mandatory classes, along with his chosen classes, are separated into different times and different teachers.

Kyung-hoon chose Drama, Music, ICT and Engineering; his parents wanted him to have a backup plan if the career towards Entertainment didn't work out.

Hayley also wants to help out in Costumes and Makeup in Drama so she took Textiles as one of her subjects.

Noah is currently in his ICT lesson and he never says goodbye when he goes to it because he wants to get there quickly and go to the back of the class. It’s because he wants to play Solitaire on the computer without getting caught, you see. 

That’s why he never saw Noah leave today and that’s how Kyung-hoon can figure out when Noah has ICT.  


Kyung-hoon does end up not going to the beanbag and instead gets started on the English assignment. However, after he’s written one paragraph and a title, he gets bored. His bored mind slowly starts to wander and after sometime he daydreams about a faceless boy inching closer to him. 

The last time he checked his emails was this morning and being bored has made him think about Cinderella. The confession pops back into his mind and he finds himself checking his personal email.

It’s fine. Miss Joyce hasn’t noticed. How could she? The library is quiet because there’s hardly anyone in here and she’s all the way across the room in her seat. Kyung-hoon notices a stack of books in her desk so he assumes they are returned books that she has to log back into the system. She’s doing that now. He’s fine.

He logs in to check if he has added anything after that confession. 

He has.

_Dear Kyung-hoon._

_I’m sorry for saying that so abruptly. You probably want to never speak to me again after hearing that. I will understand if that’s your decision._

_Or, I can try to make it better by saying I want a platonic kiss? You know, a kiss on the cheek. Is that platonic? Am I being weird?_

_I hope this hasn’t ruined what we had over these last couple of years. If it has, I want to say that I have enjoyed talking to you and getting to know who you are. Obviously if you want to cut all ties with me, I’ll be very sad but like stated above, I will understand if you decide to do that. So please don’t reply back thinking you are obliged to talk to me._

_Love,_ _Cinderella._

No, no, it hasn’t. It definitely hasn’t. Fuck, he needs to do something.

He was going to find Cinderella and confess in person but Cinderella is getting the wrong idea so he has to type this as a reply. He can’t lose Cinderella.

_Dear Cinderella,_

_If I met you, I would want to kiss you too._

_Love,_ _Kyung-hoon._

  
  


“Min Kyung-hoon!” Someone shouts in his ear and Kyung-hoon jumps. He expects it to be Noah who got kicked out because he got busted but it’s actually Martin Knightley, this weird kid from drama.

“Fucking hell, Martin!” Kyung-hoon curses out loud causing Miss Joyce to glare at him. He whispers an apology to the librarian and scowls at him.

“Sorry, you just looked so focused on your work that I got the urge to scare you.” 

Martin leans in closer to his computer screen. “What are you doing though?”

Kyung-hoon minimises his email. “I was just checking my personal emails.”

“Ohhh, why did you close it though? I’m not gonna tell Miss Joyce.”

Martin is known as an a brown noser by most people in this school. A teacher’s pet. 

His favourite is Mrs Wailer; he’s always seen sitting next to her, nodding at her criticisms as if he’s the goat of singing and acting. 

(He’s not even that good.) 

Kyung-hoon loves school productions but that’s the only thing he hates from it-seeing Martin be a smartass. 

"Because it’s personal, Martin.” 

Martin puts his hands up in defence. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop with the questions.” 

Kyung-hoon opens the Word document that has his English assignment and starts typing. 

“I actually came to tell you that we might stay behind in Drama next week.” 

“Why Martin?" Kyung-hoon answers in a bored tone. He never thought he’d find his English assignment so interesting. 

“Apparently Mrs Wailer is going to tell us what our school production is this year.”

 _This_ makes him turn in his chair.

“How do you know?”

“I heard Mrs Wailer and Mr Pembroke talk about it in the school corridors.”

Mr Pembroke is the Music Teacher and Kyung-hoon hates his guts.

Kyung-hoon has always thought of Martin as a creep; that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get impressed by his ability to find classified information.

“Do you know what we are doing?”

“No, all I heard was that they were announcing it to every drama class this week.” 

  
  


The drama classes are divided into two classes and thankfully, Martin is from the other group.

He always comes to Kyung-hoon with the latest gossip and Kyung-hoon doesn’t understand why he gets this information. It’s not like they are close friends so why? Nevertheless, he still appreciates Martin for telling him and looks like he’s going to have to appreciate him again. 

  
Beauty and the Beast was the production last year and it was their biggest turnout. That is why, everyone is excited for the next one because it was so fun last year. They felt rewarded seeing a sold-out show. They felt rewarded getting good reviews in the newspapers. They felt validated.

Mrs Wailer finally felt like she was a true director and producer at that moment.

Hayley said it was the first school production she actually enjoyed.

They want to keep the momentum going. So that is why everyone is excited to know when the next one is. 

“Thank you for telling me Martin.” 

Kyung-hoon feels weird saying that. It sounds like Kyung-hoon got news that someone was talking about him behind his back and Martin is telling him who. He doesn’t know why he got that nuance but he thinks it has something to do with Martin’s nosiness.

Hayley walks into the library. “Hey, you doing your homework?” 

“What are you doing here?” Kyung-hoon asks, walking over to talk to her. He doesn’t want to be near Martin’s presence when he’s having a conversation with her. 

Kyung-hoon gasps dramatically. “You didn’t get kicked out of Textiles, did you? You’re a perfect student.” 

Hayley rolls her eyes. “Relax, I’m here because the class ended early. One of the girls cut her finger on a sewing machine and fainted so Miss Huwitt went in the ambulance with her. She woke up but she was shaking and couldn’t speak so we had to dial 999.” 

“God, I hope she’s okay.” 

“Me too,” Hayley answers. 

  
Hayley throws her bag at a nearby table. “I had Double Textiles so it looks like I’m stuck here with you.” 

Kyung-hoon has two free periods today.

Kyung-hoon joins her on the table. “You want me to take your mind off what happened and give you some gossip?” 

Hayley shrugs. “Sure.” 

“Why do you not sound excited?”

“Because you’re not an exciting person; your last gossip was about Noah losing his virginity to that girl he met in Tenerife for his family holiday-which I already knew.” 

“I’m still mad that he told you first.”

“He had to after I unlocked his phone and saw that he sent his d--”

“LET’S NOT RELIVE IT.”

Hayley shudders. “I just wanted to search something on Google and my phone was charging.”

“I said let’s not relieve it.”

Hayley giggles. “Okay, let’s hear it then.”

“Martin heard Mrs Wailer and Mr Pembroke talking; they said they’re going to announce what the school production is next week.”

“I know that.”

“WHAT?” 

“He told me in English yesterday.” 

Kyung-hoon rests his head on Hayley’s shoulder. “Why didn’t you ask him if you can tell people? You know, people like me?” 

"I didn’t want to keep talking to him so I just thanked him.” 

“If you had told me yesterday, I wouldn’t have had to talk to him in my free period.” 

Hayley pats his head. “There, there.” 

After a moment of silence, Kyung-hoon takes his head off her shoulder.

“Should we make some guesses?” 

Hayley smirks. “I thought you liked mysteries.” 

“I don’t want to find out what it is. I just want to make assumptions.” 

“Mmhmm.” 

Kyung-hoon ignores her and guesses it’s Mamma Mia. 

“That’s actually not a bad guess considering the sequel was out not too long ago and they’re making a third one.” 

Kyung-hoon wipes the dust off his shoulders. “I’m so good at guessing.” 

Hayley _ignores_ him and says that she wants to do The Greatest Showman. 

Kyung-hoon is about to disagree when Martin loudly says goodbye to them and leaves the library. 

“He’s so weird,” Hayley says and Kyung-hoon nods in agreement. 

HIs day is mundane after that. 

For instance, like every day:

  * Kyung-hoon goes to his afternoon classes and learns……...stuff.



  * Kyung-hoon goes home with Noah and Hayley and comes home to see his mum making dinner-like she always is. 



  * Kyung-hoon takes a picture of his dad falling asleep whilst watching TV.



  * Kyung-hoon changes clothes, leaves his phone in his room to charge when he’s eating dinner and does homework after dinner. 



The only thing that was out of the ordinary was the fact that he used Bunsen burners in Chemistry and didn't email Cinderella back. 

He didn't get to email Cinderella because Cinderella never replied so he went straight to bed with thoughts of Cinderella kissing him floating in his head. 

Yeah, everything was mundane.

However, the day after that?

Not so much.

His brother is actually taking him to school this morning so that is why he is not carpooling with his friends. When he gets to school, his friends are already there at the entrance.

“Hey guys!”

His friends give him a worried look.

“What’s going on?”

“You should go inside, mate,” Noah says. 

Kyung-hoon finally realises that everyone is staring at him. 

He ignores the looks and goes inside-his friends trailing behind him. He tries to ignore everyone that’s looking at him but then Mike Snyder points to something.

“Yo, who the fuck is this Cinderella lass you seeing?” 

That’s when he realises.

In every corner of the wall where it used to be empty, there is now a printed email between him and Cinderella. The email that he sent in the library. The one where he tells Cinderella that he wants to kiss him.

Blood boils inside of him because he knows exactly who leaked it. He was the only one that saw the email yesterday.

Kyung-hoon storms to the common room where students hang out and grabs Martin by the collar as soon as he sees him.

“Look guys, the cheater’s here!” Martin bellows to the entire common room. The people who were in the corridors join the crowd of people in the common room-his friends included.

“MARTIN KNIGHTLEY, YOU ARE DEAD!” 

“Why are you attacking me when you’re the one who cheated?”

“CHEATED ON WHO?”

“Hayley Kassman.”

“WHAT?”

“You’re dating Hayley and cheating on her with this lass named Cinderella?”

Hayley pushes through the crowd of people. “Martin, what the fuck?”

“Hayley, your boyfriend is cheating on you with Cinderella! Did you see the screenshot?”

“Kyung-hoon is not my boyfriend!”

“I saw you and Kyung-hoon kissing backstage last year.”

“A showmance?” A girl named Marie shouts out and Kyung-hoon is surprised because she’s usually quiet and shy.

Kyung-hoon tugs on his collar again. “When?”

“The dress rehearsal for Beauty and the Beast.”

Hayley tugs on her hair. “Martin, you fucking psycho.”

It dawns on Kyung-hoon what kiss Martin is talking about.

“We were rehearsing our kiss because we were playing Beast and Belle,” Kyung-hoon hisses.

“Oh.”

Kyung-hoon uses this opportunity to sock him in the face. 

Martin stands up with a bloodied nose. “But we’re still having A Cinderella Story right here in our school though so we shouldn’t ignore that.”

“It’s none of your fucking business.”

“Yeah, I know, but the whole school knows so there’s going to be lots of questions thrown at you, Min. You can’t give everyone in school a bloody nose.” 

“The weirdo is right, who is this Cinderella?” Someone shouts from the crowd. 

“Did she leave her shoe at our Year 7 prom?” Someone else shouts. 

“You can’t ignore questions all day, Min,” Martin says. 

“Just because you saw one kiss between me and Hayley, you thought I was dating her? You thought you could be the hero by showing Hayley these screenshots?” 

“Hayley deserved to know.” 

“And who are you to justify that?” 

“A good friend.” 

“You are not my friend,” Hayley hisses. 

“I told you about the school production, Hayley.” 

“That doesn’t give you the right to assume we’re close friends and go snooping around our lives,” Hayley answers. 

“This is getting boring, just tell us who Cinderella is!” Someone shouts from the crowd. 

  
And then the whole school starts chanting Cinderella. 

Kyung-hoon is about to choke Martin when Kim Hee-chul pushes through the crowd. 

“Cinderella is my cousin!” He shouts. 

"Liar,” Someone shouts back.

“She lives in America and she came to the UK last year to see me. She met Kyung-hoon when his parents invited us for dinner and they liked each other. I gave Kyung-hoon her email because it was the safest thing to give him. I guess she’s still fickle minded about giving him her phone number so email is all they do. It’s an old one from when she was a big Cinderella fan hence the name Cinderella. That’s the big revelation.”

Hee-chul glares at the crowd. “If anyone comes after my cousin, I will be doing the same thing to you as what Kyung-hoon did to Martin’s nose.”

Kyung-hoon stifles a laugh.

“That includes asking about Cinderella and who this Cinderella is. Kyung-hoon and I actually got close because of this whole ordeal so Kyung-hoon will be telling me about everyone who asks him about Cinderella. That is how I can decide who to hurt.”

“You don’t scare us, Kim!” Someone shouts and the whole crowd yells out a yeah. Everyone chants Cinderella again.

“Why don’t you try me and find out then?” He answers back and the crowd stays silent.

Mike and his two equally sized friends (huge) push through the crowd.

“What if we come at you in a group? Your skinny ass can’t handle that.” 

“Everyone accused Kyung-hoon of cheating today because of one person and that didn’t turn out to be true. All I’m saying is, everything is not as it seems.”

Hee-chul inches closer to Mike. “This skinny ass can eat you and your friends for breakfast.”

The head of Year 10 comes to the common room. “What is going on here?” 

Kyung-hoon has to laugh because screenshots were pasted on the walls of the school. Someone got punched and the school made a lot of noise with their chants. All that happened and they just notice that something is happening in school.

The head of Year says he will give everyone detention if they don’t get to class and because of Martin’s big mouth, Kyung-hoon gets detention.

"Thanks but I didn't need your help," Kyung-hoon says to Hee-chul just as he is about to leave.

"You were surrounded by everyone in our school.”

“Yeah, I could’ve handled that myself.”

“I’m sure you could’ve.”

Kyung-hoon runs up to him because Hee-chul starts to walk away.

“Are you underestimating me?” He shouts at Hee-chul when Hee-chul stops.

“No, but because of me, the problem got resolved and no one is going to ask you about Cinderella. Sometimes you should just accept the help and say thank you once in a while.”

“You had no right to get involved; because of your stupid made up story, you’re also involved in this debacle.”

“Oh, you didn’t want me to be dragged in the drama between you and Cinderella? Do you also want me to walk away when someone is being bullied or being called out by the whole school? Do you want me to not have a heart?”

“You had no right to get involved.”

Hee-chul sighs. “Look, you don’t want me to get involved because this is your problem and you don’t want me to carry the burden. You are a nice guy, Min. I get it. But, I’m a nice guy too and getting rid of assholes that have no brain-cells is no burden for me at all.”

Kyung-hoon stays silent.

“I have Physics so I’m late but for future purposes, if you need any help, it’s no problem at all. Also, if you want to get a second detention, you can stand there and stare as I walk away; if you don’t want a second detention, I suggest you get to your Drama class.” 

  
How did he know about Kyung-hoon’s schedule? 

Kyung-hoon watches Hee-chul walk away and then the second bell rings which makes him dash for his Drama class. Mrs Wailer may be a nice teacher but no one can be entering the class after the second bell. 

Kyung-hoon doesn’t see Martin until next week. The two drama classes are gathering to hear what the school production is going to be so Martin is there with his classmates. When Kyung-hoon enters with his friends, Martin says he wants a word. 

“I’ve got nothing to say to you,” Kyung-hoon says after agreeing to speak to him. It took a lot of begging and pleading for him to say yes and go to a corner with him. He’s in a corner with Martin and can feel the worried looks that his two best friends are giving him. 

“Look, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for what I did last week.” 

Martin sighs. “I was jealous of you and Hayley because I…. like her.” 

  
This, he did not expect. 

“I’ve fancied her ever since she came to this school. I thought you were dating her because you became friends so quick and you even kissed behind backstage-which I now understand as a rehearsal kiss.” 

“Yeah, you could have asked me instead of revealing my secret, you know.” 

Martin sighs. “I know and I’m sorry once again for doing that.” 

“Why did you do that instead of coming to me and asking?” 

“I saw you put your head on her shoulder in the library yesterday and I got too angry so I snapped and looked at your email. I know it was private but I was too angry.” 

Kyung-hoon sighs. “Look, males and females can be in a friendship and be affectionate without it being a romantic thing. Instead of being a dick and doxing people, you should always ask and clarify things.” 

Martin nods repeatedly in agreement, muttering a few “I know I know” 

“If you ask someone about their relationship and they yell at you for getting into people’s privacy, that’s their problem; just because that sort of stuff might happen doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be afraid to ask.” 

Martin nods. “Okay, I’ll ask next time.” 

  
Kyung-hoon gets ready to leave but Martin stops him by tugging on his arm. 

“So, if you’re not dating Hayley, can you help me with her?” 

“How?” 

“Can you give me tips on how to speak to her and make her like me?” 

Kyung-hoon snorts. “Do you really think she’ll like you after that stunt you pulled?” 

“I’ll apologise to her with flowers.” 

“Hayley doesn’t like flowers; she thinks it’s too cheesy.” 

Martin smacks his arm. “See, I didn’t know that and now because of you, I learned that she doesn’t like flowers! You can help me like this!” 

“What makes you think I’ll help you?” 

“I’ll reveal your secrets again.” 

Kyung-hoon snorts. “I’ll punch you again and I’ll tell Hee-chul. He is my best friend but that dude is fucking crazy. He’ll go nuts.” 

Martin smirks. “I know Hee-chul is lying.” 

“What?” 

Martin inches closer to Kyung-hoon’s ear. “I know Cinderella is a boy.” 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> follow me on twitter: @aftereffectsx


End file.
